AMO 



AMO 



berried aril. Gmelin, in his edition of 

 LiniK'Ms, enumerates twenty species. A. 

 zinziber, narrow-leaved ginger, cultiva- 

 ted by Miller, and flowering' in Septem- 

 ber, is a native of the East Indies, and 

 other countries of Asia, and is much used 

 there and in the West Indies. The dried 

 roots furnish a considerable article of 

 commerce from our West India islands ; 

 they are of great use in the kitchen and 

 in medicine, and when preserved green 

 as a sweet-meat are preferable to every 

 other sort. A. zerumbet, cultivated at 

 Hampton-court, in 1690, and flowering 

 with as from September to November, 

 when the stalks perish like those of the 

 true ginger ; a native of the East Indies, 

 Cochinchina, &c. and also in Otaheite, 

 and the other Society Isles. This is used 

 externally in the East, in cataplasms and 

 fomentations; but not internally, as spice 

 or medicine ; though Garcias says, that 

 it makes a better preserve with sugar 

 than the other. As to tire propagation 

 and culture of these plants, it may be ob- 

 served, that they are tender, and require 

 a warm stove to preserve them in this 

 country. They are easily propagated by 

 parting their roots, which should be done 

 in the spring, before they put out new 

 shoots, in parting the roots, they must 

 not be divided into small pieces, espe- 

 cially if they are designed to have flow- 

 ers ; nor should they be planted in very 

 large pots. They thrive best in a light 

 rich earth, such as that of the kitchen 

 garden ; and with this the pots should be 

 filled within two inches of the top, and 

 the roots should be placed in the middle 

 of the pots, with their crowns upwards, 

 and the pots should then be filled with 

 the same earth ; they should be plunged 

 into a hot-bed of tanner's bark, and spa- 

 ringly watered, till their stalks appear 

 above ground, when they will admit of 

 more moisture, especially in the summer 

 months ; but in autumn, the waterings 

 must n ot be frequent nor plentiful, and 

 during winter very sparing. The pots 

 must constantly remain plunged in the 

 tan-bed; for if they are taken out and 

 placed on shelves in the stove, their fibres 

 often shrink, and thus their roots decay. 

 By this management these plants have 

 greatly multiplied, and the common gin- 

 ger has produced roots, weighing five 

 or six ounces; but the others have been 

 nearly a pound weight. In the West In- 

 dies the ginger thrives best in a rich cool 

 soil ; in a more clayey soil the root shrinks 

 less in scalding. The land laid out for 

 the culture of it is first well cleared and 



hoed, and then slightly trenched, and 

 planted in March or April ; it flowers 

 about September ; and when the stalks 

 are wholly withered, the roots are fit to 

 be taken up, which is generally done in 

 January and February. 



AMONTONS (WILLIAM), in biogra- 

 phy, an ingenious French experimental 

 philosopher, was born in Normandy the 

 31st of August, 1663. While at the 

 grammar school, he by sickness contract- 

 ed a deafness that almost excluded him 

 from the conversation of mankind. In 

 this situation he applied himself to the 

 study of geometry and mechanics, with 

 which he was so delighted, that it is said 

 he refused to try any remedy for his dis- 

 order, either because he deemed it incu- 

 rable, or because it increased his atten- 

 tion to his studies. Among other objects 

 of his study were, the arts of drawing, 

 of land-surveying, and of building ; and 

 shortly after he acquired some knowledge 

 of those more sublime laws by which the 

 universe is regidated He studied with 

 great care the nature of barometers and 

 thermometers ; and wrote his treatise of 

 " Observations and experiments concern- 

 ing a new Hour-glass, and concerning 

 Barometers, Thermometers, and Hygros- 

 copes;" as also some pieces in the Jour- 

 nal des Savans. In 1687, he presented a 

 new hygroscope to the Academy of Sci- 

 ences, which was much approved. He 

 found out a method of conveying intelli- 

 gence to a great distance in a short space 

 of time ; this was by making signals from 

 one person to another, placed at as great 

 distances from each other as they could 

 see the signals by means of telescopes : 

 this was unquestionably done upon the 

 principle of modern telegraphs, which 

 were brought into general use in 1794, 

 almost a century after the death ot'Amon- 

 tons. Amontons was chosen a member 

 of the Royal Academy in 1699, as an 

 elevc under the third astronomer ; and 

 he read there his " New Theory of Fric- 

 tion," in which he happily cleared up an 

 important object in mechanics. He had 

 a particular genius for making experi- 

 ments; his notions were just and delicate: 

 he knew how to prevent the inconve- 

 niences of his new inventions, and had 

 a wonderful skill in executing them. He 

 died of an inflammation in his bowels, the 

 llth of October, 1705, being only 42 

 years of age. His pieces are contained in 

 the different volumes of the memoirs of 

 the Academy of Sciences ; these are 

 numerous, and upon various subjects, 

 as the air, action of fire, barometers, 



